Liam Fox dismisses NHS takeover fears ahead of US trade talks

Trade secretary says idea of allowing in US healthcare providers is an urban myth and ‘won’t happen on my watch’

Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, said: ‘It’s not been part of our approach to go into these agreements and sacrifice the right for government to regulate public services.’
Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP

Fears of an American takeover of the NHS are an urban myth “on a par with alligators in sewers”, Liam Fox has said as he revealed that US trade talks will begin within days.

'He can lead a protest, I'm leading the country'- May v Corbyn at PMQs - Politics live

Read more

Informal discussions will begin in Washington in the next week and Fox, the international trade secretary, hopes to lead a ministerial-level delegation as soon as his counterparts in the Trump administration are confirmed.

The government was forced to rule out opening up the NHS to competition from US healthcare providers, amid growing concern that pressure to reduce “non-tariff barriers” could jeopardise British regulatory autonomy in the health sector.

“It’s not been part of our approach to go into these agreements and sacrifice the right for government to regulate public services,” Fox said when asked about the perceived threat during a Commons select committee hearing on Wednesday.

Pressed by the Labour MP Shabana Mahmood to guarantee that the NHS would remain “off limits”, Fox added: “As the person who will be negotiating [a US trade deal], I can say it would be not be happening on my watch.”

Fox defended alleged “fake news” claims about Britain’s ongoing attractiveness to inward investment since the Brexit vote, insisting the public needed cheering up with “good news”.

The criticism arose after the Department for International Trade boasted of £16bn of additional projects coming to Britain since the referendum, only for it to emerge that the majority of the deals had been struck long beforehand.

“I don’t regret it at all,” Fox said. “The more good news we give to the public, the better. It counters some of the black propaganda of those who are opposed to the referendum.”

Fox’s upbeat claims about foreign trade deals will attract the most attention in Brussels, where there is growing irritation over his flouting of rules preventing EU member states from negotiating independently.

Fox conceded that the “legal position” meant Britain could not sign new trade deals while it was still a member of the EU, but said there was nothing to stop it holding substantial “scoping” discussions.

“It would be against Britain’s national interests for us not to be discussing with partners what Britain’s trade arrangements might be in the future,” he said.

He also gave short shrift to arguments that any future free trade agreement (FTA) between the EU and Britain should continue to be overseen by the European court of justice.

“All the [other] EU FTAs have dispute resolution mechanisms that lie outside the ECJ and I think that would be a good model going forward for a potential EU/UK FTA,” said Fox.

The uncompromising stance adopted by Fox before the committee is likely to continue to baffle many in Europe, who regard the UK’s assertions that it will maintain all the advantages of the single market and customs union without any obligations with bewilderment.

When asked by committee members to read out evidence presented by his department that outlined tariffs of up to 30% if Britain fails to strike such a deal, Fox claimed he could not read the small print because he had not brought his reading glasses with him.

Instead he told MPs he was certain Britain would be able to inherit all of the existing EU trade deals and World Trade Organisation tariff schedules with little or no new negotiation. “We are on course now for no turbulence and no vacuum,” he said. “It’s hardly a picture of splendid isolation.”